Application deadline: March 10th
Final decision: before the end of May 2022
Maximum grant size: 1 M SEK (~100 000 EUR)
Project time: up to 3 years
Admissible costs: All relevant costs can be included in the budget (e.g. personnel cost, equipment, materials, travel, etc)
Grant description on this webpage
Background
The number and proportion of elderly in the global population is increasing, and for several reasons this is a driver for antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. Generally speaking, elderly persons are more susceptible to infections, and at the same time infections in elderly are also more difficult to diagnose because typical signs and symptoms are often absent or blunted. Knowledge and guidelines for optimal drug use for elderly are also lacking, in part because clinical trials typically focus on a single condition and on young people. These trials therefore give limited guidance for treatment of elderly with comorbidities.
Antibiotics are among the most frequently newly-prescribed drugs in elderly patients, and between 25% and 75% of antibiotic prescriptions in long-term care facilities for the elderly are thought to be inappropriate. Meanwhile, little research on preventable inappropriate medication use has been carried out in residential elderly care. Most research on antibiotic resistance prevention is done in hospital settings, while most elderly either receive care at home or live in residential care facilities.
Our grant call in 2022 aims to support projects with significant potential to prevent infections and antibiotic resistance among elderly.
Scope of the call
We will fund research, information projects, and/or educational projects that can prevent infections and antibiotic resistance among elderly on a significant scale. We encourage projects that have high relevance for low- and middle-income countries.
For example, we would be interested in projects that address the following areas:
- Malnutrition among elderly
- Prevention of specific common infections such as pneumonia, CDI or UTI
- Development or testing of training programmes for caregivers, targeting professional or informal caregivers
- Infection prevention in residential elderly care
- Development of evidence for other interventions for infection prevention in home care of elderly
We do not fund:
- Development of new antibiotics
- Stewardship projects targeting direct improvement of prescription practices
- Participation in conferences or other types of travel grants
- Information campaigns or educational efforts without a robust evidence-base, unless it is specifically designed to create such evidence by testing and assessing the effectiveness of a specific strategy in a credible way
We are unlikely to fund projects that have a very narrow scope, e.g. where the potential impact is limited to a small patient group.
If an applicant is aiming to carry out a study in a different country than where they are normally based, it is crucial that the local connections are strong and well established and that there is a realistic plan for how the results will be used.
Who can apply?
Research institutes, non-profit organizations, or individuals can apply. There is no geographical boundary, we accept applications from anywhere in the world.
For-profit companies are not eligible.
Application process
The first step of the application is an online application specifying the purpose and aim of the project, a project plan and budget and who would be involved in the project. We might request additional material after submission if we think something is unclear or missing.
In the second step, the most promising applicants are selected for short, online interviews by the staff. These interview notes will then be presented together with the application materials from step one to the board of PAR Foundation who selects the grantees.
Selection criteria
- Importance: The project should have a potential for large impact. This means that if the project becomes successful, it should have a potential to significantly affect the development of antibiotic resistance.
- Neglectedness: We prioritize funding projects in neglected areas. This criterion is mainly applied on the selection of focus area (in this case, prevention of infections among elderly), but all else equal, we will also prioritize subareas and approaches that appear neglected by other grantmakers
- Feasibility: The project should have a plausible likelihood of success. This means that the team should have the capacity and competence to carry out the project in a good way. We do encourage bold and innovative approaches, but as far as previous evidence and knowledge exists that is relevant to the project, it should be used to inform the project design.
- Potential for catalyst effect: We prioritize applications that have potential to lead to additional projects or interventions with large effect, or that can improve the ability of other stakeholders to have a large impact. This could for example be achieved by exploratory research into new fields, or by developing tools that enable improvements of other projects or work in the area.
- Transparency and accessibility: We promote transparent reporting of methodology, open access publications, and when appropriate preregistration of research questions. Details will be discussed with applicants during the application process.
Apply for this grant here.